In some networks, when a computer is initially started, various management tasks are performed with respect to the computer. Typically, such management tasks are performed by a management server that is coupled to the network. To find a management server, a computer often broadcasts a User Datagram Protocol (UDP) packet onto the network, which broadcast UDP packet is received by all nodes on the network. UDP is described in Request for Comments (RFC) 768, entitled “User Datagram Protocol,” dated August 1980. A management server monitors for broadcast UDP packets, and records the address of each new computer identified by a broadcast UDP packet.
More recently, for security reasons and to lower bandwidth usage of a network, many organizations are disabling the use of UDP communications on networks. If UDP is disabled on a network, then a computer that has just started on a network may not be able to find a management server, since broadcast UDP packets transmitted by the computer will be blocked and thus will be unable to reach a management server. As a result, the management server may not notice that a computer has started on a network, which prevents the management server from performing management tasks with respect to the computer. The computer will therefore not be configured properly on the network, which may prevent proper functioning of the computer on the network.